The best ethics code exists in conscience

CORPUS CHRISTI - There was a short but illuminating bit of business at last week's City Council meeting. The item was straightforward and routine — amending the city's ethics code — but the discussion was telling about how such rules of conduct are viewed.

The aim of amending the policy, which governs both the City Council and every city employee, Chairwoman Jennifer Dragoo told the council, is to simplify the language and cut down on the verbiage. The policy, as City Manager Ron Olson said later, is some 20 pages, too long and too detailed for the average employee to imprint it into their normal course of work.

Someone once said that ethics is what you do when no one is looking. That, however, assumes that the little voice that tells us "don't do that" is loud and clear in all of us. We have ethics policies because that voice is silent in some. Yet an ethics policy is no guarantee that anyone will be ethical. You simply can't write the ethics policy that will be extensive and airtight enough as to stop the person determined to find a loophole. That's why ethics policies grow in length.

For City Council members, the emphasis of the policy is to avoid conflicts of interest and to prevent office holders from taking advantage of their position. Where there are conflicts or where there is the possibility of undue influence, the person should disclose the conflict in writing. The rewrite includes a definition of "conflict of interest," which the existing policy does not have.

That definition, and in particular the phrase "any interest in a matter or transaction involving the city," became a hang-up. Some, like Councilman Mark Scott, believe the written notification, which would be triggered by the "any interest" phrase, would become burdensome to council members in their ordinary course of business. Suppose a council member, he asked, needs ordinary services, like having a plugged sewer line fixed at his residence or business. Would he first need to fill out a disclosure form before calling the wastewater department?

Well, as it turns out, Councilman David Loeb did have a city sewer line serving his residence plug up recently. After finding a bathroom floor at his house covered with water, he called the wastewater department to tend to the emergency situation. But then he notified the city manager in an email disclosing his contact with city employees and his reason for doing so, dismissing any suspicion that he was getting preferential treatment. Given the circumstances, Loeb's action was in the spirit of the policy.

But still, Scott said, this kind of bureaucratic form-filling could be an obstacle. "There are a lot of people who would want to run for office who will not have the tolerance nor believe it is appropriate to fill out a form in the normal course of business." Perhaps disclosure to the point of nuisance might be a turnoff for talented individuals, but there's a reason they call elected office public service.

I'll concede that Scott has a valid point, barely. Elected members need city services just like anyone else and having every contact with the city recorded doesn't necessarily ensure ethical conduct. Still, I'd rather council members err on the side of disclosure, rather than parse ethics policy language. They should be vigilant about possible conflicts of interest, and even the appearance of conflict. It shouldn't take a legalistic policy definition of "substantial interest," defined by voting stock or dollar limit, to sound the ethical alarm bells. You know when you have something at stake. If you have to ask whether an issue is a conflict of interest, it probably is.

The council asked for more study by the ethics commission on the language. But more language won't plug any holes if you are not squeamish about ethics. As Olson indicated in conclusion of the discussion, the best ethics policy is often the simplest.

Olson said he follows five principals in his own conduct. 'Be truthful. Be honest Be fair," he said. "Keep your word and have integrity in applying the first four principals."

Sounds like a clear set of rules that every council member should follow.